Pivot Point International Unites Beauty Industry Nationwide to Support the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
with Cares For Kids™ #BEAUTYRAISER

Chicago, Ill., June 3, 2015 –Pivot Point International, a global leader in cosmetology education, continues to champion child welfare by rallying the beauty industry in support of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Beauty students and salon professionals nationwide are encouraged to support NCMEC by hosting their own Cares for Kids #BEAUTYRAISER and donate proceeds from their event to NCMEC to support its work to find missing children and prevent child abduction and child sexual exploitation.

Embarking on their 18th year of fundraising for NCMEC, Pivot Point has introduced several innovations to better engage today's connected students, salon professionals and clients, featuring:

Utilization of the social-based fundraising platform Crowdrise, allowing for schools/salon professionals to engage their social community

NCMEC’s "Picture Them Home" tools, allowing schools/salon professionals to distribute photos of missing children from their local area to encourage dialogue with salon guests and create an impactful connection for supporting this cause

Updated campaign name Cares for Kids #BEAUTYRAISER to better position the array of services that schools/salon professionals offer

Established in 1984, NCMEC is the leading nonprofit organization in the U.S. supporting law enforcement, families and the professionals who serve them on issues related to missing and sexually exploited children. Last year, law enforcement in the U.S. received more than 460,000 reports of missing children. In addition, U.S. law enforcement officials have seen a dramatic increase in child sexual exploitation cases in recent years, including child pornography, online enticement and child sex trafficking. Last year, NCMEC’s CyberTipline received a record 1.1 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation.

To promote awareness of NCMEC’s efforts and provide support to participating schools/salon professionals, a complete fundraising toolkit that includes NCMEC background information, a video featuring Alicia Kozakiewicz—a survivor of Internet luring, and other visual assets are available through Pivot Point.

Pivot Point Cares for Kids

In making the announcement, Pivot Point Chairman and CEO Robert Passage noted “Pivot Point first became involved with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in 1997, when my late sister Corrine created the Pivot Point Cares for Kids™ program. Over the years, we’ve raised more than $1,000,000 to support the work of this organization. Our stance on protecting children is unwavering—we believe every child deserves a safe childhood; we won’t have children harmed on beauty’s watch.”

Facts on Missing and Exploited Children

NCMEC has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 208,500 missing children since it was founded in 1984

Ninety-three percent of teens ages 12-17 go online

Of children 5 years old and younger who use the Internet, 80% use it once a week

One in 25 children ages 10-17 receive an online sexual solicitation where the solicitor tries to make offline contact

Pivot Point International, founded by Leo Passage in 1962, is the global premier provider of hair, tools and beauty educational solutions for schools, salons, students, individual stylists and distributors. pivot-point.com.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is the leading 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working with law enforcement, families and the professionals who serve them on issues relating to missing and sexually exploited children. Authorized by Congress to serve as the nation’s clearinghouse on these issues, NCMEC operates a hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678), and has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 208,500 children. NCMEC also operates the CyberTipline, a mechanism for reporting child pornography, child sex trafficking and other forms of child sexual exploitation. Since the tip line launched in 1998, more than 4.9 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have been received, and since the NCMEC’s Child Victim Identification Program was created in 2002 more than 145 million suspected child pornography images have been reviewed and analyzed. NCMEC works in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To learn more about NCMEC, visit missingkids.com. Follow NCMEC on Twitter and like NCMEC on Facebook.

This Web site is funded, in part, through a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this Web site (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).